What are FRAPCON, FRAPTRAN, and FAST?
FRAPCON is the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) steady-state fuel performance code; it was developed and has been maintained by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. FRAPCON provides the NRC with the ability to accurately calculate the high-burnup response of light-water reactor fuel rods.
FRAPTRAN is the companion code to FRAPCON that calculates the response of light-water reactor fuel rods to rapid transients and severe accidents. FRAPCON and FRAPTRAN are assessed against a large database of steady-state and transient tests such that the code predictions are well validated and the uncertainty in code predictions is quantified.
FAST combines FRAPCON and FRAPTRAN into one convenient code to accurately calculate the response of light-water reactor fuel rods to both steady-state conditions as well as rapid transients and severe accident conditions.
Use of FRAPCON, FRAPTRAN, and FAST
FRAPCON, FRAPTRAN, and FAST are used by the NRC as audit tools in the review and approval of vendor safety analysis codes and are being used by a large worldwide user group that includes: regulatory and safety bodies, research and engineering corporations, utilities, fuel vendors, and universities.